Dan Neville
Question:131 Mr. Neville asked the Taoiseach the details of the census which will be taken in the course of 2001. [20850/00]
Written Answers. - Census of Population.
The next census of population will be held on Sunday, 29 April 2001. The census will cover everyone who is present in the country on census night. This accords with the definition used in previous censuses. Persons will be enumerated where they spend census night, for instance in private households, hotels, guest-houses, hospitals, barracks, etc. For the first time demographic detail will be sought for usual residents temporarily absent on census night.
The full list of questions is given in the following table:
Census of Population and Housing 2001
|
Topic |
Previously covered in |
||
|
1991 |
1996 |
||
|
Household characteristics |
|||
|
Type of accommodation |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Year house was built |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Nature of occupancy of household |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Rent paid |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Number of rooms |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Central heating |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Water supply |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Sewerage facilities |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Number of cars and vans |
Yes |
No |
|
|
PC ownership and Internet connectivity |
No |
No |
|
|
Persons present on census night |
|||
|
Name |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Sex |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Relationship to person 1 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Date of birth |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Place of birth |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Nationality |
No |
No |
|
|
Place of usual residence at time of census |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Place of usual residence one year previously |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Year of taking up residence in Ireland and country of last previous residence |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Marital status |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Irish language |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Religion |
Yes |
No |
|
|
Membership of travelling community |
No |
Yes |
|
|
Topic |
Previously covered in |
||
|
1991 |
1996 |
||
|
Disability: long lasting condition |
No |
No |
|
|
Disability: physical, mental or emotional condition |
No |
No |
|
|
Means of travel to work, school or college |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Time person leaves home |
No |
No |
|
|
Distance travelled and time taken |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Filter question |
– |
– |
|
|
Age at which full-time education ceased |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Highest level of education completed |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Third level qualifications held |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Provision of regular unpaid personal help |
No |
No |
|
|
Principal status |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Filter question |
– |
– |
|
|
Employment status |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Occupation |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Filter question |
– |
– |
|
|
Name of organisation for which you work |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Address of organisation for which you work |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Business of your employer |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Did you work for payment or profit last week |
No |
No |
|
|
Were you actively looking for work in the last 4 weeks |
No |
No |
|
|
Could you have started a job within 2 weeks |
No |
No |
|
|
Were you waiting to start a job already obtained |
No |
No |
|
|
Number of hours worked last week |
No |
No |
|
|
Persons temporarily away on census night |
|||
|
Name |
No |
No |
|
|
Sex |
No |
No |
|
|
Relationship to person 1 |
No |
No |
|
|
Date of birth |
No |
No |
|
|
Marital status |
No |
No |
|
|
How long is the person away for |
No |
No |
|
|
Was the person in the country on census night |
No |
No |
|
|
Is the person a student away at school or college |
No |
No |
The census will be carried out by a dedicated field force consisting of five Census Liaison Officers, 35 Regional Supervisors, 350 Field Supervisors and 4,000 Enumerators. The first two layers have already been appointed while advertisements have been placed in the press for the 350 field supervisor positions with a view to appointment in early January. The enumerators will be appointed for a ten week period commencing in early April 2000.
It is planned to release the first headcount information within three months of census day. This is normally accurate to within 3,000 to 4,000 of the final census count. With a view to speeding up the processing of the census returns it is proposed on this occasion to use scanning and recognition technology. Instead of keying the information from the census forms to computer as in previous censuses, it is planned that the forms will be scanned and the information on the scanned images recognised using character recognition technology. This will allow the definite results to be published in a more timely fashion heretofore.